Seller Forwards

Forwards

Forwards

Forward Offers overview

Forward offers represent a seller’s offer to partner buyers on products that will be available on specified months, for up to 12 months out. Buyers can place a market order or submit a bid on a forward offer to obtain the product that they expect to need in the future.

 

You can use the Forward Offers screen to create and manage forward offers.

 

You can create a forward offer for up to 12 months out. The offer specifies pricing for a product at a terminal for each of the months that you decide to make available to buyers. Pricing can be tied to a future market base, such as the NYMEX or Globes, or to a spot or static market base. You set the amount of inventory that is available for each month of the offer, as well as a minimum monthly bid quantity. You also determine whether auto-matched trades are accepted or whether you prefer instead to receive bids and manually select the ones you want. And finally, you can assign the forward offer to one or more terminals.

 

A buyer authorized for that product and terminal combination can then enter a bid or market order, if allowed. They buyer specifies the months and the quantity desired for each month of the bid.

 

If auto matching on market orders is allowed, the forward market order will be matched and become final as soon as it is submitted. On a forward bid, the bid will become matched once you accept it or, if automatic matching is allowed for all bid months and the offer is in active status, the offer price comes down to match the bid price.

 

To each forward offer, you can attach one or more Classes of Trade. That lets you extend different offers to buyers within different classes of trade. COT designations remain invisible to the buyer and are set up through the Class of Trade screen.

Buyers can place multiple forward market orders and/or bids on a forward offer. Each market order and bid is considered a separate transaction. You can accept all of them, some of them or none of them, as you choose.

 

 

 

Forward Offers interface

Here are the different fields on the Forward Offers page:

 

Term

Definition
Terminal Groups Lists the terminal groups in your DTN Exchange database. Use the drop-down menu to select a terminal group for which you wish to view forward offers.
Terminals Lists the terminals in your DTN Exchange database. Use the drop-down menu to select a terminal for which you wish to view forward offers.
Product Class Lists the product classes that you have authorized yourself to sell. Use the drop-down menu to select a product class for which you wish to view forward offers.
Products Lists the products that are authorized for a selected terminal or terminal group. Use the drop-down menu to select a product for which you wish to view forward offers.
Offer Type You can click a selection box for the offer type(s) you wish to view. Options are: Active, Suspended, and Inactive.
Terminal The terminal location where the forward offer has been assigned.
Product The product to which the forward offer is attached.
Status The status of the forward offer. Options are Active, Inactive, and Suspended.
Market The market on which the forward offer is based.
Bid Incr. The increment in which buyers must bid.
Avg Price The average price over all the months of the forward offer.
Avg Loc Diff The average location differential above the market base over all the months of the forward offer.
High Bid Displays the highest current bid on the forward offer.
Bids Indicates the number of active bids on the forward offer.

 

 

 

New Forward Offers interface

Here are the different fields on the Forward Offers page:

 

Term

Definition
Products The product being offered.
Market Base The market base (NYMEX, GLOBEX, or a user-defined market base, if available), the offer is tied to.
Bid Increments (Gallons) Defaults to 42,000, but can be changed to another value.
Terms Defaults to DTN terms, but can be changed to user-defined terms, if available.
Available Months Months that the offer is available to the buyers.
Accept Auto-Trade Matches Indicates that you want allow bids to auto-match as market prices rise or fall to meet your offer price. You can still manually accept active bids that are below your current offer price.
Inventory Defines the total number of gallons of the product that you are offering for sale each month of the forward contract.

  Do not use commas or decimals when entering a quantity.
Min. Bid Quantity Defines the minimum quantity of product (in gallons) for which a buyer can bid.

  Do not use commas or decimals when entering a quantity.
Base Contract Indicates the base contract for the selected product. The system automatically enters this for you.
Contract Month Defines the contract month the price is based from. By default, the system enters the same month/year as the month/year of the forward offer. You can set the contract month forward up to the 13th month out.

 

To set all contract months to the next month: Click the +1 link to the left of Contract Month. The system enters the next month as the contract month for all months of the forward offer.

Example: if Sept. is the current month, the contract month is set to Oct.

 

To set a different contract month for each month: Use the Contract Month menu in each month’s field to select a unique contract month for that month of the forward offer.

 

To reset all contract months to match the current month: Click Match next to the Contract Month. The system enters the same or matching month as the contract month for all months of the forward offer.
Contract Field Allows you to set a NYMEX or GLOBEX market base to either the average of the Last (actual trades) or Ask values for the selected future contract.
Cash Differential A price formula field that represents the cash differential portion of your price formula.

  You can enter a dollar amount with up to four places to the right of the decimal. To indicate that the differential should be subtracted from the price, enter a minus sign before the dollar amount. Do not use the $ sign.
Profit Margin A price formula field that represents the profit margin component of your price formula.

  You can enter a dollar amount with up to four places to the right of the decimal. Do not use the $ sign.
Misc. Adjustment Allows you to apply a miscellaneous adjustment to the forward offer price.

  You can enter a dollar amount with up to four places to the right of the decimal. To indicate that the differential should be subtracted from the price, enter a minus sign before the dollar amount. Do not use the $ sign.
Shrink Allows you to apply an adjustment for shrinkage due to temperature change or other conditions.

  You can enter a dollar amount with up to four places to the right of the decimal. To indicate that the differential should be subtracted from the price, enter a minus sign before the dollar amount. Do not use the $ sign.
Special Cost Allows you to adjust the forward offer price to include special costs.

  You can enter a dollar amount with up to four places to the right of the decimal. To indicate that the differential should be subtracted from the price, enter a minus sign before the dollar amount. Do not use the $ sign.
Special Price Allows you to apply a special price to the forward offer.

  You can enter a dollar amount with up to four places to the right of the decimal. To indicate that the differential should be subtracted from the price, enter a minus sign before the dollar amount. Do not use the $ sign.
Location Diff (Before Tariff and Additive Costs) The system automatically calculates the Location Differential based on the Cash Differential, Misc. Adjustment, Shrink, Special Cost, and Special Price fields for each month. This is your location differential per gallon of product for each month of the offer.
Market Base The system automatically enters the Market Base price based on the Market Base, Base Contract, Contract Month, and Contract Field values.

  “NA”indicates that there is no available market base. If there is no market base for a month, un-select the month by clicking the Available months selection box for that month to remove the check mark before continuing.
Base Offer Price (Before Tariff and Additive Costs) The system combines the Location Differential plus the Market Base to obtain the Base Offer Price.

  This is be calculated if there is no Market Base. The Base Offer Price displayed on this screen does not include any applicable tariff and additive costs. The system applies these costs to the offer that the buyer sees.
Calculate Offer Price Calculates the offer price for each month of the forward offer.

 

 

 

Troubleshoot Price Uploads

To run an error report that details all price adjustment line item errors, select the report you want and click Go.

 

Error Message

Resolution
Invalid file format Contact Customer Support for assistance.
Invalid terminal name The Terminal Name in your spreadsheet must exactly match the Terminal Name used within the DTN Exchange.
Invalid product name The Product Name in your spreadsheet must exactly match the Product Name used within the DTN Exchange.
Invalid special/forward cost value Special/Forward Costs must be a dollar amount with up to 4 decimal places. You can use a plus or minus before the amount.
Invalid special/forward price value Special/Forward Prices must be a dollar amount with up to 4 decimal places. You can use a plus or minus before the amount.
System error Contact Customer Support for assistance.

 

 

Forward Offers tasks

Add a Forward Offer

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Forward Offers

  1. Click Create New.
  2. In the following fields, click the data field next to the item to select what you want (to see definitions for the fields, check out the Forward Offers overview page in the Help Center):

  3. To select all months for the following: Click the selection box next to the field.

  4. To select some months but not others: Click the selection box beneath the month(s) you want to select.

  5. To enter the same value for all months for the following: Click the Set All box next to the field. Enter the desired value and click Submit.

  6. To set a unique value for each month: Use the data fields beneath each month to set a unique value for that month.

  1. Click Continue to Assign a Forward Offer to a Terminal.

 

 

Assign a Forward Offer to a Terminal

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Forward Offers

 

Once you complete the steps to Add a Forward Offer, you need to specify the terminals where the forward offers are available.

  1. After clicking Continue when Adding a Forward Offer, the screen lists all the terminals where the specified product is available. Terminals are listed by terminal group.

  If a message indicates that there are no terminals available for the product, terminal, seller, combination, click Cancel at the top of the screen.

  1. Beneath each Terminal Group Name, select the terminals to which you want to assign the forward offer.

  • To select all terminals within a group: Click the Select All Link.

  • To select on a terminal by terminal basis:  Click the selection box to the left of each terminal to which the forward offer should be assigned.

  1. Click Save.

The Forward Offer is saved as Inactive. You need to activate the offer in order to make it visible to your buyers.

 

 

 

Activate a Forward Offer

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Forward Offers

 

Newly created forward offers are saved to an Inactive status. In order to see the offer on the Forward Offers screen you need to select Inactive from the Offer Type.

  1. Select the box next to the forward offer whose status you want to change. You can select multiple terminals by clicking the ones you want. To change the status of ALL forward offers: Click the selection box at the top row of the selection table.

  2. Click Change Status.

  3. Select Active.

  4. Click Submit. Any buyer authorized for the offer can now view it through the Buyer menu.

  In order to see a forward offer, the buyer must be authorized for forwards offers, for the terminal location where the offer is active, and for the product to which the offer applies. In addition, the Buyer must be associated to a Class of Trade assigned to the forward offer.

The standard Class Of Trade (COT) is automatically assigned to the offer. If you would like to assign additional COTs, see Assign a Class of Trade to a Forward Offer below.

 

 

 

Assign a Class of Trade (COT) to a Forward Offer

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Forward Offers

 

When you add a forward offer, the system automatically assigns the Standard class of trade to the offer. You can assign other COTs to the offer, with a different adjustment for each month of the offer. Each buyer will see only those offers that have a COT to which the buyer is associated.

  1. Click the COT link.

  • The Offer Parameters pane displays the Available Months and the Location Differential for each of those months. The Location Differential is based on the Cash Differential, Misc. Adjustment, Shrink, Special Cost, and Special Price values for each month of the forward offer. This is your location differential per gallon of product for each month of the offer.

  • The Assigned COT’s pane displays any COTs that have been assigned to the forward offer. The Adjustment is the plus/or minus adjustment for the month. The Location Differential is the Location Differential (from the Offer Parameters pane) plus the Assigned COT Adjustment.

  1. To assign another COT, click the Add Class of Trade drop-down menu and select the COT you want.

  1. To assign a unique adjustment for each month: Click inside the data entry box for the month and enter the desired adjustment.

 The adjustment can only be to four places to the right of the decimal and can be a positive (add) or negative (subtract) amount.

To assign the same adjustment to all available months: Click the Set All button. Enter the desired adjustment amount and click Submit.

  1. To change the Rank, enter a new number in the Rank field.

  COT rank is set on an offer by offer basis. Whatever COT ranking scale you apply to one offer only apply to that offer. That lets you set different COT ranking scales for different offers.

COTs are applied to the offer based on the rank. The lowest rank, i.e., “1,” is applied first, followed by the next lowest rank, “2,” and so on. The Buyer sees only the forward offer with the lowest ranked COT for that buyer.

You can move the rank of a COT up or down by keying in a higher or lower number.

  1. Click Save.

 

 

Remove a Class of Trade (COT) from a Forward Offer

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Forward Offers

 

  This procedure does not delete a COT from your DTN Exchange database. It only removes the COT from the selected forward offer. If you remove a COT from a forward offer, any open bids on that offer and COT are canceled.

  1. Click the COT link next to the offer you want to change.

  2. In the Assigned COTs pane, click Edit by the COT you want to change.

  3. Click Remove. A confirmation box appears.

  4. Click OK.

 

 

Change a Forward Offer

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Forward Offers

 

  If you change one or more offer months to unavailable, all existing bids that contain those months are suspended.

  1. Click Edit by the offer. The Update Selected Forward Offers screen opens.

  2. Change the information as needed.

  3. Click Save.

If you’d like to change the status of a forward offer, complete the following steps:

  1. Select the box next to the forward offer whose status you want to change. You can select multiple terminals by clicking the ones you want. To change the status of ALL forward offers: Click the selection box at the top row of the selection table.

  2. Click Change Status.

  3. Select the status you want. Options are Active, Inactive, and Suspended.

  4. Click Submit.

 

 

Change Multiple Forward Offers

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Forward Offers

 

You can change the following on multiple forward offers:

  • Pricing differentials: Terms, Bid Increments, Available Months, Accept Auto Match Market Orders, Inventory, Minimum Bid Quantity, Cash Differential, Profit Margin, Miscellaneous Adjustment, Shrink, Special Cost, and Special Price.

  • Class of Trade pricing

  • Add pricing for a new trade month

  If a month is grayed out, the month has not been configured for any of the selected offers. You will not be able to change these settings. Gold highlighting indicates that the selected offers have different values for that setting. You can change that setting by keying in a value. The new value will be applied to all the offers for that setting. To see the offers that you’re changing, click “Selected Offers Show”.


Change Pricing Differentials on Multiple Forward Offers

In order to change pricing differentials on multiple forward offers, the offers must:

  • Be for the same market base

  • Have the same or similar pricing strategies

  1. Select the box next to each forward offer you want to change.

  2. Click the Edit Offers button.

  3. Change the information.

  4. Click Save.

Change COT Pricing on Multiple Offers

  You can change COT pricing differentials only on COTs that are assigned to all of the selected offers.

  1. Select the box next to each forward offer you want to change.

  2. Click Edit Offers.

  3. Select the Class of Trade tab.

  4. Change the information.

  5. Click Save.

Add Pricing for a New Trade Month on Multiple Forward Offers

You can use this procedure to configure pricing for a month that was previously not configured, such as when the new contract month becomes available after the nearby futures contract expires. If a month on the Multi Edit Forward Offers screen is grayed out, that means not none of the forward offers that you are changing have pricing configured for that month. You can add the month with this procedure. Once you add the month, you will need to return to the Multi Edit Forward Offers screen to configure pricing for the new month across the selected forward offers.

  1. Select the box next to each forward offer you want to change.

  2. Click Edit Offers.

  3. Select the New Offer Month tab.

  4. Choose a Base Contract, Contract Month, and Contract Field.

  5. Click Save.

  6. Return to the Multi Edit Forward Offers screen and add pricing to the new month.

 

 

Upload Forward Pricing

Location:  Seller  >  Pricing  >  Upload Pricing

 

You can upload Forward costs and special prices through the Forward Cost Upload screen. The upload file must be an Excel spreadsheet where the Terminal and Product Name exactly match those used within the DTN Exchange. The spreadsheet should also specify a value for the Forward Cost and the Forward Price.

  1. From the Upload Pricing page, select the Forward Misc TG (terminal group) or Forward Misc Term (individual terminal) tab.

  2. Click Upload.

  3. Use the Browse button to select the file to be uploaded.

  4. Click Upload.

If all items successfully load, a success message displays in the Results section of the page. If errors occurred, see Troubleshoot Forward Uploads from the Forward Offers overview page in the Help Center.

 

 

Class of Trade (COT) overview

You can use the Class of Trade screen to create a class of trade and assign it to a buyer or multiple buyers. You can then use the Forward Offers screen to assign a different pricing rate or differential to each COT.  

 

Class of Trade allows you to distinguish buyers according to COT and to apply different pricing rules to each COT. COT rates are actually a differential of plus or minus a specified dollar amount applied to a standard base price for a forward offer. This standard price and the COT differential are defined within each Forward Offer.

 

You can assign a buyer to any COT that you want. In addition, you can assign the same buyer to multiple COTs.

 

Each buyer sees offers that apply only to the COTs to which that buyer is assigned. If a buyer has been assigned to more than one COT, the buyer will see the offer attached to the lowest ranked COTs to which they belong. For example, the group of buyers associated to COT A will see forward offers priced for their class only, while the group of buyers associated to COT B will see forward offers priced for their class.

COT designations remain invisible to the buyer. That way you can rest assured that your pricing parameters remain confidential.

 

 

 

Definitions for Class of Trade

 

Term

Definition
Class of Trade A unique name for the class of trade. When you use the drop-down menu to select a class of trade, the screen will refresh to display the selected class of trade.
Available Buyers Lists the buyers in your DTN Exchange database that are available for assignment to the selected COT.
Authorized Buyers Lists the buyers that have been assigned or authorized for the selected COT.

 

 

Class of Trade tasks

Add Class of Trade

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Class of Trade

  1. Click Add.

  2. Enter a name for the new class of trade. The name must be unique for each COT. Format: 1-45 alphanumeric characters, including the following special characters: !@#$%&*-_(){}'[]+?/ =

  3. Click Add.

  4. Add authorized buyers to your new COT.

  5. Once you have set up a COT, you can attach it to any forward offer you want. You can do this through the Create New Forward Offer screen. Only the buyers assigned to the COT see the COT pricing attached to the forward offer.

 

 

Add or Remove Authorized Buyers to a Class of Trade

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Class of Trade

To add authorized buyers:

  1. Use the Class of Trade drop-down menu to select the COT you want.

  2. From the Available Buyers column, click the buyers to be authorized for the new class of trade and click the Move Right arrow. To select multiple buyers, hold down the CTRL key while you make your selections. To select and authorize all buyers, click the Move All Right double arrow.

  3. Click Save.

To remove authorized buyers:

  Each buyer must be assigned to at least one COT. If you try to remove a user from its last COT, a message displays asking if you want to move the buyer to the Standard COT. This is the default COT to which a buyer is automatically assigned when the buyer is added to your list of authorized buyers.

  1. Use the Class of Trade drop-down menu to select the COT you want.

  2. From the Authorized Buyers column, select the buyers you want to remove and click the Move Left arrow. To select multiple buyers, hold down the CTRL key while you make your selections. To select and remove from authorization all buyers, click the Move All Left double arrow.

  3. Click Save.

 

 

Change a Class of Trade Name

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Class of Trade

  1. Use the Class of Trade drop-down menu to select the COT you want to change.

  2. Click Edit.

  3. Change the name as desired.

  4. Click Change.

 

 

Delete a Class of Trade

Location:  Seller  >  Forwards  >  Class of Trade

 

  You must remove all buyers from the class of trade before it can be deleted.

  1. Use the Class of Trade drop-down menu to select the COT you want.

  2. Click Delete.

  3. Click OK to confirm the deletion.

 

 

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